1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to computing devices and electronic communication; and in particular, a system and method for determining constraint-based relationships between devices for interacting and sharing information.
2. Description of the Background Art
The use of portable computing devices has become commonplace for many users. In addition to having a conventional desktop computer, many users also have some type of portable computing device. Examples of present-day computing devices include tablet computers such as the iPad from Apple Computer Inc., and a plethora of smart phones including the iPhone from Apple Computer Inc., the Blackberry from Research In Motion and the Pre from Palm just to name a few. Mobile computing is on the rise and predicted to increase by more than 20% in the coming years. Moreover, there is been a convergence of mobile technologies that are often built into portable computing devices such as a variety of communication mechanisms or channels, location systems like GPS, accelerometers, gyroscopes, cameras, microphones, etc.
One particular problem with such prior devices is that it is often difficult for such devices to find each other, interact with each other, and share relevant information with each other. For example, most all current communication between devices needs to be sent from the device to a central server to the other device. This reliance on centralized servers for processing information creates bottlenecks. Because of this construct, there are a number of barriers that prevent simple and easy sharing of documents and interaction with other portable communication devices. One barrier is that the devices consume bandwidth connecting with a network or central server. Another barrier is that the devices must know an identification number or some other information to establish a connection with the other device. Other barriers for simple and easy interaction and communication include small screen sizes of the portable devices, the difficulty of entering data on portable devices, and privacy considerations.